CRICKET

South Africa's campaign to become the world's number one test team suffered a major blow on Monday, when Australia won the first Castle Lager test at the Wanderers by 162 runs to take a one-nil lead in the three test series. The winner of the series will become the number one team, and stands to win the ICC test Championship Trophy as well as prize money of US$175 000. Meanwhile, Allrounder Albie Morkel will replace injured fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe in South Africa's 12-man squad for the second test against Australia in Durban, which starts on Friday.

CRICKET

Alastair Cook broke his drought of test hundreds to collect his eighth test century and earn England a draw in the fourth test against West Indies on Monday. Left-hander Cook was undefeated on 139 and Kevin Pietersen was unbeaten on 72, and carried England to 279 for two at the finish an hour and 10 minutes before the scheduled close on the last day at Kensington Oval.

RUGBY

The Sharks have lost powerhouse flank Jean Deysel for the rest of their Australasian tour due to a knee injury. Deysel has been sent home after injuring ligaments in the weekend’s Super14 clash with the Chiefs, while Justin Downey has been asked to join the squad. With Deysel out, Keegan Daniel may be called up for duty against the Blues in Auckland on Saturday. Skholiwe Ndlovu will be on the substitutes bench.

CRICKET

Thilan Samaraweera became just the sixth batsmen in test cricket to notch a double hundred in consecutive matches as Sri Lanka made Pakistan toil in the second and final test in Lahore on Monday. The 31-year-old followed his 231 in the drawn first test with an imperious 214 to lift Sri Lanka to 606 in their first innings and shared a record 207-run stand for the fifth wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (145).

FOOTBALL

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admits he held a meeting with his players in the aftermatch of their defeat against Middlesbrough to discuss the team's title meltdown. Benitez's side wasted a chance to close the gap on leaders Manchester United as they crashed to a 2-0 loss at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday. The Reds are now seven points behind United, having played a game more than Sir Alex Ferguson's side, and their title hopes look in tatters. Benitez, whose side host Sunderland on Tuesday, sat down with the squad to thrash out what went wrong at Middlesbrough and where they go from here. The Spanish coach believes injures to stars like Fernando Torres have played a key role in Liverpool's failure to keep pace with United because they have placed too much pressure on the squad's youngsters.